Sao: The crimson liquid
by Bashabuttonstorys
Summary: A short dark tale about the worst night of Kazuto's life.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Hello. I'm in a dark mood. I wanted to write a darker story so I did. Enjoy. Well, it's more like a drabble really.

Sword art online. The crimson liquid.

Blood. Blood was red. Blood was sticky. Blood smelled weird. Blood tasted weird. Blood was essential.

Blood poured out of Kazuto's lover right before his eyes, the ground was a puddle of blood. Her pupils were tiny, she was shaking horribly, that crimson liquid trickled down her forehead and all Kazuto could do was cry. Cry for help. Cry as he rang for an ambulance. Cry out as tears fell and splashed on her nose. She smiled faintly, before she blacked out. The car number stained with her blood was dented from the anger Kazuto had vented once she was on the ambulance, it was his fault, the drivers fault and also partly Asuna's fault. He blamed himself the most, but he kicked the car anyway.

He hated the hospital, it held too many bad memories. He could hear the soft beeping of the machine that kept his love alive. He could here the chattering of doctors as they hurried around passing tools for the surgery. Every so often he heard the buzzing of a saw and the cracking of a bone. He heard the breathing of the other patients in the other rooms, he smelled the sterile hospital smell he was so used to. But now... Now. He cried. He wanted to shoot himself in the head. He wanted to end this waiting any way he could. He wanted Asuna back.

But fate wouldn't give her back, so he waited. Twiddling his thumbs thinking about any way he could've possibly saved her front he speeding car.

They had been chasing each other, well, Kazuto was chasing her. She ran onto road thinking it was clear, only to be hit by a speeding car driven by a man that was under the influence. The back of her head slammed against a van parked on the pavement and she slid slowly down, trailing blood down the back of the van.

The image made him shiver.

"Kazuto!" His friends arrived. Lisbeth, Silica, Agil, Klein and Sinon. The first people to receive the call.

"We're so sorry... After everything you've been through." Kazuto didn't care. He didn't want their sympathy. He just wanted Asuna. He sat there, emotionless, like a doll staring forwards, thinking about the event. His friends were shaking him, shouting in his ear, but he saw and heard nothing. All he could see was Asuna, and her blood. Her red, sticky, strangely beautiful blood.

The doctor allowed them to enter once the surgery was over, he walked in to see his wife. She was only just conscious. He listened to the doctor with teary eyes as he explained due to internal bleeding and brain damage she only had a few hours to live... So make it count.

He laid his head on her chest sobbing as she stroked the back of his head, crying too. The others watched silently, but they didn't care. This was all the had left. Not long after Asuna's relatives arrived, but they stood at the side, allowing Kazuto his final goodbye.

"Fate is cruel... We survived the death game but I couldn't protect you from a car."

"It isn't your fault and do not blame yourself." Asuna turned to her friends. "Can you all do me a favour?"

They all nodded.

"Don't let him kill himself, someone watch him for the first few months after I pass away."

Kazuto looked up.

"You can't do that! I want to come with you!"

"Stay with Yui." Kazuto opened his mouth to retaliate but promptly shut it.

"I love you. IloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyou." He repeated into her chest.

She giggled and smiled lightly.

"Don't go... Please... Please honey... Don't leave me alone." He sobbed and allowed the rest of the tears to fall.

"I'm always with you Kazuto. Always. Ok?"

"No... It's not ok... I want to hold you in my arms, kiss you... be with you..."

"But this is what we have, so we deal with it. I love you, so much."

"I-I... Why?" He looked up and kissed her passionately.

"Because life said so."

They group sat watching as the hours ticked by and Asuna's death grew ever closer. Kazuto didn't move from his position, kneeling at her bed, embracing her tightly, every so often pulling back to kiss her.

Until her breath began to slow.

"Nonononono! You are not going!"

"I am Kirito-kun. I am. I love you all, you have been my greatest friends! Kazuto. I love you more than life itself, so please, please live. Live for me?"

"I... I will. I will buy the cottage we talked about and get Yui into real life... I'll follow you up someday." Kazuto sobbed.

"I... L-love... You..." Her heartbeat slowed.

"No... Please..." He cried, gripping her hand.

"Goodbye." She went limp in his arms. The heartbeat monitor emitted one long beep as her life was severed.

~Many hours later.

Each of his friends left Kazuto with a pat on the back, sobbing as they took off. "May she rest in peace." Klein said as he left.

Her cold limp hand was still in Kazuto's as he cried out, screaming at the top of his lungs. He longed to see something, anything that could be a sign of life, but nothing, she was dead. There was no other way of putting it. If it wasn't for the promise he made he would have killed himself there and then. Eventually eben her relatives left, leaving Kazuto alone. He slept on that chair, dreaming about every single happy memory they had together. And now, life had taken away the very thing he lived for.

A/N: Not my normal kind of thing eh? Quite depressing really. Well, if you wanted a dark story, here it is.


	2. Alternate ending

**A/N: A couple of you requested a happier ending, so here is a short alternate ending to crimson liquid. Oh, and the guest reviews I couldn't reply to, Thanks for your review! Also, FFDP, I didn't copy this from other stories. I haven't read any angst stories, so sorry if this is similar.**

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Sao, the crimson liquid. A brighter sunset.

Kazuto headbutted the wall for a third time, leaving a small mark and a lingering pain on his head. He cried out for Asuna again, wishing that things could be different, wishing he had seen the car sooner. Now, she was lying in bed, unconscious, unlikely to awake again. His friends were behind him, trying to calm him with words, Kazuto couldn't hear them. They were muffled noises annoying him. Pestering him.

"Ka! Zu! To!" Lisbeth Yanked him away from the wall he was clinging to. His eyes were wide open, his expression blank, his pupils were wide and his iris colour was diluted. Lisbeth slapped him across the face. Again, he felt nothing. as if life itself had been sucked out of him.

"What." He said coldly, blankly.

"Asuna! She is Awake!" Lisbeth shouted through teary eyes.

He felt his heart ache, then his eyes came back into focus, the tears began to fall as he came back to his senses, came back to reality.

"W- MOVE!" He shoved his friends out the way and ran to her room, barging through the door and stopping at her bedside. He knelt and took her hand in both of his.

"A-asuna?" He sobbed.

"Hey Hun... Agh... Maybe I should have been more careful huh?" Asuna managed a light smile as she sat herself up slightly straighter.

"You dummy." He smiled as the tears continued to trail down his cheeks.

"Isn't that my line?"

"Yes it is... Survive for me? So you can keep that line..." He chuckled and hugged her neck, kissing her cheek.

"I'm not leaving yet."

"Thank... You." The doctors and nurses arrived seconds later, shooing Kazuto outside. He left reluctantly after the fifth time the nurse asked, still gripping Asuna's hand until the very last second.

Then he waited. He waited for the longest time in his life, it felt longer than waiting to get Asuna out of Alfheim, it felt longer than the two years he spent in Sao. He just wanted to curl up in a ball and cry, cry out for her, cry out for her name. Soon his friends rushed over again.

"Kazuto? How is she? Is she good?" Klein asked in a concerned voice, no, more than concern, dire worry.

"I don't know." He stung, coldly.

"R-right. Look, Mate, we're here to support you." He knelt and placed his hand on Kazuto's shoulder. He felt the biting cold of his friend's skin. His friend tremble as he gave up his cold act, his tough act, his act that stopped some of the pain getting through, but Klein just released a floodgate.

Kazuto fell forward on to Klein, allowing every last tear that had been saved up those past few minutes to flow out of his tear ducts. Lisbeth and Silica began to sniff, even Sinon, who in situations like this, preferred to show no emotion, began to sob. Agil just stood strong, bearing the weight of the emotion. The hall was silent except for the sobs of the survivors.

"It's my fault..." Kazuto broke the silence.

"What?" Sinon glared.

"It's all my fault... We were chasing, I should have seen the car! I should have jumped in the way!"

"Kazuto!" She slapped him as hard as she could across his cheek, "This has nothing to do with you! Even with your super fast reflexes no human being is fast enough to stop what happened! You so everything for her! It's just that fate has been cruel enough to deliver this blow, but you will survive! Both of you!" She cupped his face in her hands and stared deeply into his eyes, "You will endure." She rested his head on her shoulder, and allowed the sobbing to pass.

When the doctors had finally finished, after five hours, everyone looked around with hopeful eyes.

"There was strong internal bleeding, and her spine was broken. We have replaced certain parts of the spine with metal and her internal bleeding has been felt with... She's going to have difficulty walking for the rest of her life, but she is alive and kicking. We should be able to discharge her in a matter of weeks." The doctor clicked his heels together and stepped out of the way to let them in.

"Asuna! Asuna Asuna Asuna Asuna!" He gripped her shoulders, threatening, no, promising never to let go. "You're ok, you're ok, you're ok!" He sobbed happily into the crook of her neck. Lisbeth approached them

"You'd better apologise, all the things he does for you and you reward him by scaring him to death? Shame on you." Both girls smiled, then giggled, then laughed. Lisbeth smiled as she embraced her friend.

One by one their friends left, happily embracing Asuna.

"So... I'm staying all night. Is there anything you'd like me to get you before tonight?"

"No... Just your company." She smiled, speaking with a raspy voice.

"That I can give to you." He pressed his forehead against hers and smiled against her lips.

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**A/N: Hope you enjoyed! Happier ending, there we go! Please review and or Pm and thank you for all your support!**


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